Rise Of The Phoenix

The legend says that when the Phoenix rises from the ashes of a fallen wizard, six young heroes are ready to take on the honorable task of restoring the country's long lost greatness, but before that can happen, they must be taught the ways of their ancient heroes.

17 year old Beatrice leaves her home in the early morning, to fulfill her duty as one of the chosen ones, knowing she might not return. For more than thirty years, the country has been ruled by an evil wizard, whose power lies solely in his ability to raise the dead. Now, his reign has come to a turning point, that will either mark the end of his terror, or grant him even bigger powers. Only six chosen youngsters have the ability to change the future.

4. Three

Chapter Three:

A persistent ringing tore through the cloud that surrounded her dream, leaving only shreds of images behind as Bea bolted awake. She fumbled across the table to shut off the little intruder before it also woke Jonathan. But just as she hit the button, she heard him speaking in the top bunk.

“Bea? What's going on?” He asked, his voice was slurred from sleeping and in the darkness she could only just she his head over the side of the bed.

“Nothing Jonathan, just go back to sleep.” She said. Hoping that she had sounded sincere enough for him to leave it and go back to sleep.

She held her breath and listened through the darkness. After a while, the only sound she heard was the creaking of the bed as Jonathan turned around. Soon, his gentle snoring filled the air.

Just to be sure he was indeed asleep, Bea waited another few minutes before crawling out of bed and sneaking through the room to the old chest of drawers in the corner.

She hesitated, just for a second, before she opened the top drawer. Hidden between layers of clothing was an old silver bracelet that her father had given her when she was just a little girl. It probably wasn't worth much, but it would have to bring in enough for her ticket.

The nearest city was 30 miles away and so was the nearest train station. She would have to hike through the woods to get there.

Shoving the bracelet into her pocket, she went back to the bed to get the bag she had stashed away under her bunk, before she went downstairs.

She had to be quiet when passing through the livingroom, as her parents also used it as their bedroom. They room they had originally slept in, was now used as the store, after the attack 3 years earlier. They hadn't been able to afford rebuilding their store, that had once been in a different building across the village.

Bea made her way through the room and, to her relief, her parents were both asleep behind her. She stepped into the pantry and closed the door behind her before she started looking around.

By now, there were more empty shelves than filled ones and a distinct smell of spoiled meat hung in the air, as the blackout also meant that the fridge was only running part-time.

She vaguely remembered when times were better, before the silver mines were running low and the country still had enough resources to keep the entire people fed and content.

The first 15 years of the emperors regime had been decent, according to her parents, but these past 15 years had only brought worse and worse conditions for the people.

Bea sighed as she reached for a loaf of dry bread and some canned beans. She made sure only to take what she was sure her family could get by without.

When she put the items into her bag, she took out an envelope. It was a letter to her family, explaining what she would have to do. It had taken her most of the previous afternoon to write it. There was simply no way to justify leaving them, to go on a mission that might be suicide. Especially not when her absence meant one less person to work in the shop.

She steadied herself before pushing the door open. Her parents where still asleep as she walked towards their bed and left the letter by her father's pillow. He was most likely to understand.

Suddenly she became very aware that she was leaving. It hadn't seemed real until that moment, when she knew she might never see her parents again.

She blinked away the tears and turned away from the bed, there was no time for breaking down.

When the letter had arrived, she had been skeptical. Everyone knew the legend about the phoenix, but until then she hadn't believed it. Hell, she wasn't even sure she believed it now, but the letter promised her something she had been looking for her whole life; It promised her answers.

She had known she was special since she was very little, but they had always kept her powers hidden, out of fear of the emperors wrath. Only the elder wizard could possibly know the truth about her, when not even Jonathan knew.

She walked through the livingroom and the kitchen with heavy feet, only to hesitate in the entrance. It seemed so final to leave like this. She didn't know what trials was waiting and she had a strange feeling that she would never come back.

Shaking her head, she took her shoes from the shelf above the boiler. She also grabbed her coat and wrapped it around her. Despite the warm days, it would get cold during the nights. Especially when sleeping outside without any shelter.

She opened the door less than an inch, peeking out into the early dawn. The street seemed clear, but she needed to look out for the emperors night patrols. They had the ability to hide in the shadows and be almost invisible. Even at the clearest of nights, they seemed to appear out of nothing.

Lead by a human entranced by the emperors powers, groups of 3 undeads patrolled the villages after the 9pm curfew.

The emperor possessed the ability to raise the dead, he was the most powerful necromancer, the country had ever seen.

Deciding that now was the time to make her move, she rushed out the door and closed it behind her. The most difficult part of her escape was yet to come, but if she just stayed near the houses, she should be okay.

She had barely thought the sentence through before she heard the sound of gravel crunching under feet.

Looking around frantically, she tried to find the source of the sound, but it seemed to come from all around her. Without thinking, she set into a sprint. She couldn't risk running into one of the patrols. At the very least, she'd be quarantined for the next few weeks or ,quite possibly, something even worse.

She slowed down, looking over her shoulder before she dared take a break. The village seemed quiet around her, but she couldn't afford to stick around for much longer. A quick and easy escape would be best for everybody.